With the onset of spring comes the promise of bountiful farmers markets and boxes of food from community-supported agriculture. Alongside meat and producelongtime staples of the CSAsa wider selection of fresh North Carolina seafood will be available.
On April 7, Core Sound Seafood (www.coresoundseafood.org) will begin its 10-week spring season, delivering shares of eastern North Carolina catches to its shareholders at stops in Raleigh (615 E. Whitaker Mill Road), Durham (5112 Revere Road) and Carrboro (Carrboro Shopping Plaza off N.C. 54).
Core Sound co-founder Anna Child says the community-supported venture, which started last year, provides fish that many people have never heard of or can’t buy in stores, including mullet and bluefish. Other anticipated offerings for the spring include flounder, hard blue crabs, clams and scallops.
Seafood shares are on sale now and can be purchased online at Core Sound’s website, or by sending a check to 1254 Island Road, Harkers Island, NC 28531. For the latter, include name, email, share size and desired place of delivery. Full shares (4 pounds) are $450, while half shares (2 pounds) ring in at $225 for the season. And, for those who don’t want to commit to 10 full weeks of fish, biweekly options are also available ($225 for five 4-pound deliveries, and $112.50 for five 2-pound options).
To support and help sustain a food economy farther away, head to Fullsteam Brewery (726 Rigsbee Ave., 682-2337, www.fullsteam.ag) between noon and 6 p.m. on Sunday for the Whole Planet Rhythm & Eats & Beats Benefit Concert. All proceeds will go to the Whole Planet Foundation, an initiative that Whole Foods started in 2005 to provide microfinance funds for women living in poverty in developing countries.
Durham’s Whole Foods location (wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/durham) has raised funds for the foundation in the past through employee incentives and donation boxes at each cash register. But Amy Eller, one of the event’s organizers, describes those efforts as great but “poking along.” Through the Rhythm & Eats & Beats benefit, she hopes the store can do more.
Suggested prices for event tickets, available at the door, are $10 for individuals or $25 per family (cash only). The event will feature food, beer and musicincluding three bands with roots in some of the countries with which Whole Planet Foundation works, including Diali Keba Cissokho and Kairaba, Alex Weiss and Different Drum, and dub Addis. Also expect raffles, prizes and bingo.
Bull City Burger and Brewery is opening Friday, March 25, at 107 E. Parrish St. in downtown Durham (www.bullcityburgerandbrewery.com). The Indy will attend a pre-opening earlier in the week. Check out our Big Bite blog to see what awaits on opening day.
Also on the blog, the Indy chronicles the last day of Dillard’s Bar-B-Q, a venerated Durham eatery since 1953. On March 26, the Hayti Heritage Center will award the restaurant with its Hayti Legacy award. Look for more coverage about Dillard’s next week.
Know about a fun food happening in the Triangle? Send it to Now Serving at food@indyweek.com.
